Good morning!!!!

[buckeyefarmer]

Happy 45 mr & Mrs mostly!!!!!

 

[m7040]

OEM Stihl coils each time. I am frustrated with this saw.

My MS290 is 20 years old and has only ever needed maintenance parts and consumables. This MS180 has coil issues. To the point I don’t trust it now.

Have an older Stihl saw with coil issues. Repaired it but I don't think it runs now. I use a larger 20 inch bar saw but would like to have the older saw for backup in case I get it stuck.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Good looking area with nice views.

I have no idea of the weather there but the narrow gravel road would never survive snow plowing. And the non-graveled roads could turn into bottomless mud pits in a rainy season.
If you have never lived on gravel/dirt roads;
forget about having a clean vehicle,
be ready for stone bruised tire flats,
once the other lots get built up be ready for traffic driving too fast on dirt roads,
rain will make mud everywhere,
drought will make for dust, then slippery slimy mud.
.

I grew up at the end of a mile gravel road that is as wide as this. I’m very aware of driving them. This gravel road has been there many years. The non gravel roads are that way because nobody lives on any of the lots they lead to so no concern about them. I was surprised the road was in great shape. There is a community association just to maintain the roads with a $30 yr fee. I don’t think it’s active.
If I get this lot, my drive would be right at this road intersection to the right. I forgot to take my drone.

The guys at the restaurant said they don’t get the snows they used to.

Picked beans and dug 1 row of potatoes this morning. I’m chilling now.

 

[sodamo]

71°F and no rain

What to do today? So many choices. LOL. Pretty much like any day. Land of opportunity, just choose the priority.

Energy conservation comes to mind, but…

Some garden prep? Can’t kick that can too far as I’d like to get replanted soon.

Told Sophie I wanted to get that concrete work done next week, so maybe I’ll work on the forming.

Did I mention energy conservation?

Imagine Drew has had his inaugural dip in the hot tub. Will be interesting to hear about the energy use maintaining temperature.

TV has been publicizing reducing electricity use on island. Sure make the prospect of EV’s enticing.

Was tempted to address the labor shortage from local standpoint, but any attempt seems to risk touching the political 3rd rail, so I won’t.

Prayers for all
Be safe
Have a great day

 

[m7040]

Have some trees leaning the wrong way and need to take them down. Is looking at using this old pulley as a snatch block tied to another tree and pulling a rope with the tractor. Really like to have a forest winch mounted on the 3 point but have not been able to justify the high cost

 

[sodamo]

Dennis, been 100% off grid since 2005. Learning curve early on, a bit of different lifestyle (think not running high draw power items at night), but there has been much advancement in the systems. The newer LiFePo batteries awesome. Get a properly designed, potentially expandable system and don’t look back.
NOTE: might want to avoid RNG’s installer.

Nice open lot, but might you want some wind breaks?

 

[RoyJackson]

Dump run done a couple hours ago...
Only part of the lawn that needs a trim is the fenced in area...didn't mow it last time because Margeaux was lying on the deck...maybe later today. When I'm mowing the fenced in area, the gate is open and Margeaux does like to run.
Watching an old flick, Night of the Hunter, and sipping on a beer right now

 

[buckeyefarmer]

NOTE: might want to avoid RNG’s installer.

Nice open lot, but might you want some wind breaks?

There’s a big solar installer about an hour from this lot, that’s experienced with off grid installs.
I will get in contact with them. Will avoid RNG’s guy.

Across the fence to the SE is a large pasture. They have 2 ponds at the bottom of the hill. I thought maybe they pumped water up to tank, then used gravity flow. Maybe it was 1 farm once and got split, and thats why tank is on the other side? Who knows. Would love to talk with neighbor in the farmhouse.
I did not walk over close to the tank. An old building beside it looks to be falling down. Looked like concrete block walls under the tank.
Will probably put an offer on Monday and take our chances. WV is laid back. No strict building codes. Soil looked good on top of the hill, not clay. Might call health department Monday to ask about wells in the area and perc requirements.
I used to own a mountaintop (and side) lot about 45 minutes south of here in next county south. I had it perced when I bought. Perc was only good for 6 months, so I had a local guy install driveway and septic. And had footers dug for a cabin. I never built, and sold that around 2000 and used money to build my garage.
I had thought about offering on it and another, but after looking, the one is enough.
It will be windy up there. Maybe some wind block to the west, also to hide the house from the main drive. Which comes up around the SW edge to NW side.

The town below at 800ft elevation, 1600 at the lot.
Technically less than 2 miles from edge of town. First road was just paved. Nice road. Go a mile turn right on another paved road. Only go probably 1/8 mile to reach the gravel development road. There’s a bunch of fairly new houses just a little further down this road. Need to talk to well guy also.

My plan if we get it, will be to lay out where I want house, then perc and get drive, well and septic in. Campers are allowed per restrictions. Then we could camp there and use generator for well pump.

There are a couple water bars cut in the drive coming up the hill. Would like to see culverts there.
There’s an old house on the first lot as you turn into the development. It violates the restrictions by having old junk cars sitting around.
No hunting, or discharging of *******s. We scared out a big buck as we walked down along the grass road below this lot. It scared me also when it took off.

Edit: Monday is holiday, change those items to Tuesday.

 

[RedNeckGeek]

Good Morning!!!! 95 @ 11:30AM here in Lompoc, CA. Abundant sunshine. High 89F. Winds W at 10 to 20 mph.

Smooth ride down yesterday, pretty much all freeway, and quite toasty until I made it back over the Coast Ranges to US101 in Paso Robles. Lost about 15F in the process, now very nice weather here. The "pass" I used yesterday was quite low and not very steep, so there wasn't much of a chance to look for the fuel starvation problem, and I didn't have one. Still feel like I'm waiting for that shoe to drop.

That bit solar array wouldn't make you any money in sunny California, Paul. PG&E will buy back all my surplus, but only gives me $.04 a kWh for any overage at the annual "true up". If I fall short, I pay them something close to $.40. Last year I owed them $12 or so, from an 8 kW array...

No real plans for the weekend, but glad digging ditches, fishing wire, rocket launches, or working on old vehicles won't be featured. I picked up some salmon fillets and Yashida's teriaki sauce on the way through town yesterday, and we had a delicious meal outside on the porch. French toast this morning, and now we need to hit the grocery store...

Hope everyone enjoys the long weekend!

 

[m7040]

So continuing the transportation story: I was assigned to a project in the Mohave desert and picked up a big block engine rental car for the assignment. Fortunately it had AC and gobs of power. Running flat out you could watch the gas tank gauge needle move down as we drove.
We took it on trips in the desert on time off to explore. My wife loved the thrill of exploring and the speed on desert trails. It became a game of running straight out at 80 to 100 mph raising a mile high column of dust and then go into a 4 wheel slide and go out the side trail without fail.

On one of these excursions we encountered a stretch of loose sand and my wife said do not try that and of course I was very confident and said trust me it is only a matter of speed and momentum based on my engineering background sounded very good. However the loose sand went on forever and the car went slower and slower and slower and finally stopped sunk into sand to the belly. I said don't worry ( did not know how to get it out) It was 118 degrees and we were 20 miles from anywhere. Now when my wife is irritated at me somehow this incident always comes up even today many years later.

Fortunately we had AC and gas in the car so told the wife here is the plan. You start to circle the car and pick up sticks and rocks etc you can find and bring them up to the car. And I got out the bumper jack and lifted the end of the car and reduced the air pressure in the tires. Then we collected rocks for the next several hours and made ramps for the wheels then moved up a few feet and repeated. Took us 6 hours to go through the sand to solid ground